How do you personally manage stress when debugging complex APIs under tight deadlines?

Working with APIs often feels like solving a puzzle where some of the pieces are hidden — or mislabeled. You think the headers are correct, the payload is clean, the endpoint exists… and yet, the response is a 401 Unauthorized with no further explanation. It’s in these high-stress moments, especially when deadlines are looming, that I’ve realized emotional resilience is just as important as technical skills.

My go-to tool for API work is Postman, and I’ve built a decent workflow using pre-request scripts and chained environments. But even with the right tools, when things don’t work and Slack notifications keep piling up, I know I need to step away for a bit.

Strangely enough, one of my oddest (but most effective) resets was discovering a mobile game called crazy cattle 3d. It’s essentially a bunch of chaotic cows charging through fields, and for some reason, guiding that stampede made me laugh enough to come back refreshed. Not saying it’s a strategy for everyone, but finding that one silly outlet might be the key to surviving those impossible bugs.

So — how do you reset when API frustration peaks?